Even though she had spoken to her father after all that had happened, she still felt like she needed someone else. Marigold had finally made her sit still long enough to clean up and treat the bite wound on her neck so it was no longer weeping into her pale fur, but she still felt like she needed someone else. She was too tired now to go to The Hallows how she had originally wanted to so even though it was the middle of the night and she was certain her sister would be asleep, she still had to go find her. Even if she didn't get to talk to her till morning, she just want to be near someone that wasn't her father. At first she went to Asla's den, peeking inside quietly since she didn't want to wake her by calling for her in case she was asleep. Surprisingly though she wasn't there so she found a trail of her scent and followed it, keeping her mind occupied by tracking down her older sister. She needed to be going somewhere, doing something, being with someone. Anything but just sitting with her own thoughts, no matter how tired she was. Eventually she did find Asla not all that far away, clearly on a patrol. Briar's pace picked up into a trot to catch up with her, slipping up beside her sister quietly and finding a place at her side. She surprised herself with how calm she felt, but that fear was still lurking in the background, threatening to creep up on her in any given moment. "Asla?" she asked softly as she fell into step beside her, her ears folding back against her head as her worried eyes found her sister's gaze. "Something happened, I... I'm not sure what to do." "Briar" | "Marigold"

After recent events and the ceremony that followed, Aslatiel had needed to be alone. Leaving Naiche in the den, the young Reaper made her way off to the edge of the territory to run a patrol. Rather than run though, she walked. The cream and grey fae felt defeated in a way. Had she not just complained to her father about their family breaking apart? She was more than angry. Aslatiel was furious. Furious that her mother and brother had been stupid enough to leave the pack. Furious that Mortis was still gone. Furious that she was protecting an empty pack. The crunch of approaching paws breaking through the crust atop the snow brought Aslatiel to a halt. Curling her neck, she noted the approach of her antlered younger sibling. Before Briar even reached her, Asla could smell the blood on the wind. Her brow furrowed, pulling at the freshly scarred flesh upon her face. The girl's words were confusing and Asla stopped her with one paw on her shoulder. It was evident that Briar was upset. Panicked almost. "Slow down. Tell me what happened." She hadn't liked the idea of having younger siblings. At first, she'd wanted to drown them all, but she'd grown up since then. Aslatiel no longer needed her parents approval, nor their attention. As such, she didn't really mind her siblings anymore. Not all the time, at least. The smell of blood wafted towards her again. Gently, she repositioned Briar to look at the wounds upon her neck. Anger flashed through the Reaper. Who would dare? Again she instructed her sister, "What happened?" Was she going to have to fight someone? She was definitely in that sort of mood. "Speech"

When Asla put her paw on her shoulder and forced her to stop, telling her to slow down, Briar allowed herself to stop and sit back on her haunches. Sitting still somehow made it worse. It allowed the uncertainty and worry to creep up on her. As long as she was moving she could focus on something else that wasn't how she was feeling and what was going on. She started trying to put her thoughts into words, but before she could Asla seemed to notice that she was wounded and she let her older sister turn her head so that the bite wound that showed through her fur was visible. Her ears flicked back when her sister questioned what had happened, clearly angrier this time. "I... I saw Dad going into one of the empty spare dens to sleep and I didn't want him to have to sleep alone so I went and joined him. At first he thought I was... He thought I was Mom, but then he seemed to be okay and we went to sleep and then just out of no where I woke up and he was..." Something about saying that her father had bitten her felt so very, very wrong. As if it couldn't be real. It felt impossible that their father could hurt one of them even though she had lived it. She struggled to say the words out loud for a moment before finally resigning herself to just waving a paw at her neck. She sighed, her brow furrowing with concern and confusion. "He told me about these dreams he has and how the same thing had happened with Mom a long time ago and that if he couldn't find his center that I'd need to be prepared, but I don't know what that means. Be prepared for what?" None of it made sense and as much as she wanted to help she didn't know what do to. She refocused her gaze on Asla, desperately hoping her older sister would have any kind of answer. "Briar" | "Marigold"

The younger wolf started explaining and Asla's brow furrowed in concern. Their father had attacked her in their sleep. The words of Tamsyn rose within her mind and the cream and grey fae raised one paw to knead the space between her eyes. She hadn't believed that her father would lose his grip on reality, but there it was and Briar had paid the price for it. "I know that you're worried about dad," she began, looking back to the injured girl. "I need you to stay away from him at night and be careful around him when he's awake. He's not safe right now." She knew that Briar wasn't stupid, so she had no problem talking to her sister plainly. "We've all felt the loss, but he's feeling it more deeply. Until he sorts himself out, you need to be on guard." She would tell the other young siblings the same thing, but they didn't exactly like one another, now did they? "You should stay in my den for a while in case he sleep walks or falls asleep there. There's also the star den nearby." It was a den that Sirius had built for Asla and her siblings to practice their hobbies. She hadn't been there in a while, but no doubt her stars were still painted on the walls, so they'd taken to calling it the Star Den. "There's more than enough room in my den, so if you'd feel safer there..." Asla wrinkled her nose, the action pulling on the sensitive wounds that were just healing into scars. "You can tell the others the same if you'd like. I doubt they'll listen to me." She couldn't blame them, but if they wanted safety, then she would offer it. Briar passed along that Sirius had told her to be prepared. When the antlered girl questioned it, Aslatiel rolled her eyes. "He's being stupid and very dramatic. I'll talk with him. Just make sure you take care of your wounds and get some rest. Be mindful when you're around him, please." Of all her younger siblings, she liked Briar best. It would be a pity if something happened to her. "Speech"

Briar immediately nodded in agreement when Asla instructed her to be careful around their father and to stay away from him at night. She would have done that even without her sister's direction to do so. In fact, she was pretty sure she was going to be staying away from him entirely for a while. She had to wonder how long it would take for him to 'sort himself out' as Asla put it. What would happen if he never sorted himself out? Was she ever going to feel safe around him again? That possibility hit her harder than when she heard that Zee and Azure were gone. She had always been closer to her father - something that she felt was pretty true of most of her siblings as well. She refocused her attention on Asla when she invited her to stay in her den and offered the star den near by. The relief at that was palpable and she was was sure it showed in her expression as a quiet sigh passing her lips. All she really wanted was an escape right now and the idea of going back to the den that she shared with her littermates and father certainly didn't feel like that. She felt certain that her father wouldn't go to sleep in there anyway, at least not on purpose after what had happened with her, but it still felt better to be avoid it all together. A slight smile tugged at her lips and she nodded again when she told her to let her other siblings know they could do the same. "I will." She knew some of her littermates held more animosity toward Asla than she did so she wasn't sure the others would listen, but she'd pass along the invitation all the same. A bit of disbelief and uncertainty flicked across her face to Asla telling her that their father was being over dramatic. Could that really be all it was? The look she had seen on his face said otherwise, but she still couldn't quite make out what it meant so she tried to just let it go at her sister's insistence. She was just glad that Asla said she would speak to him. That seemed to be the next best step anyway. She wanted to help their dad so badly but she didn't know how so all she could hope to do was hand the worry over to her older sister for a while. "Thank you, Asla," she replied genuinely and sincerely. Most of her usual bravado had been stripped away and at this point she didn't know when she'd get it back. "Briar" | "Marigold"